September 24, 2003

• 2003/9/24 Minkaen in Kawasaki

  Yesterday was a holiday, and we had to "go somewhere!"  We decided to go to Minkaen in the next town of Kawasaki.  (Minkaen is a collection of very old houses that have been brought from different parts of the country and reassembled in a park.)  Here are a few shots taken on the way to the Wakabadai train station. 

  

   I think I sent red dragonfly pictures before, but this one was extremely cooperative and not at all camera shy. 

  

  A typhoon had just been through to blow the clouds away, and we got a hazy glimpse of Mt. Fuji, which by the way could erupt at any time according to the TV soothsayers.   Not a great picture, but here it is.  Hope that this particular topological feature maintains its present lovely shape for a few more years before turning into a Mt. St. Helens. 

  

  The noodles... ah, the noodles!  This is the plastic version of what is served inside a Noborito station neighborhood restaurant, and it was so succulent that even a picture of the plastic version is tickling my tastebuds!

  

  These are some shots of the reconstructed houses at Minkaen.  These particular homes are from VERY snowy areas, and the thatched roofs are sloped so the snow will fall off and not accumulate.  I had always thought that it might be charming to live in such a house, but I would want some modern conveniences, like lights, windows and plumbing.  I could even do without the plumbing and lights, maybe, but I shudder to think of living in here in the winter.  Some of the other people looking these houses over were saying things like, "Yeah, camp!"

  

  

  

  

   

  The above flowers are higanbana.  I believe that they are called cluster amaryllis in English.  They always seem to know that it is time to bloom around the fall equinox, September 23.  God must wake them up.

  

  

  

  

  Above and below are a couple of shots of things that I might want to modernize were I to live in any of the houses in the Minkaen.  One shot is of a bathing area where you can pour water over yourself and rinse off.  The runoff is conducted outside of the house through a gutter under the floor.  The other is of a kitchen area.  Fire was lit under the pots, which must have filled the abode with a pleasant smoky aroma.  A nice place to visit and see how it was done, but I don't think that I would want to live there.

  

  

  Da Plumbing!

  

  These are self-explanatory.

  

  

  These people are weaving things from rice straw that is left over after the rice is harvested.  It can be used to make sandals, baskets or whatever.  The man making what appears to be a basket is actually making a nekosuzura, or a cat house, as opposed to a dog house.  The structure will eventually become a half sphere with a floor into which a cat can enter and chill out.  The tool that the man is using to weave the straw is actually a kitchen knife that he honed down and drilled a hole in to make into a large needle for pulling the straw through.  He said that the tool used to be made from bamboo, but that he thought that this was sturdier.

  

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